Yesterday, I wrote about siloed expertise. It might have seemed that I am against specialisation and instead favour an "everyone does accessibility" approach.
Specialisation isn't the problem. Isolation is.
Deep expertise matters. It's what lets people solve complex problems, develop better patterns and raise the bar for everyone else. Most work that matters genuinely requires focused, uninterrupted thinking. And for that, specialisation is key.
But there's a line. When you cross it, hand-offs replace conversations and "that's not my job" becomes the default.
That's when everyone starts to optimise for their own craft instead of the outcome. That's when knowledge stays locked in someone's head. And that's when feedback loops get longer and more awkward.
Healthy specialists understand how their work affects everything downstream. Toxic specialists don't think past their own output. They just expect everyone to accept their input at face value.
So yes, you need overlapping skills at the edges. Designers who code a bit. Or at least can read code. Developers who understand design thinking and why it's important. And you need cultural permission to step outside your lane.
Great products need specialists. But if those specialists can't talk to each other, you end up with great pieces that don't fit together.
The walls between roles need doors. Experts who are worth their salt will insist on building those doors.